Prompted by several recent situations in professional league play, a discussion has developed regarding the proper action to take when a foul continues over a distance on the field.  Many fouls occur with the participants in motion, both the player committing the foul and the opponent being fouled, and it is not unusual for the offense to end far away from where the initial contact occurred.

            Usually, the only problem this creates for the referee is the need to decide the proper location for the restart.  Occasionally, however, an additional issue is created when the distance covered results in an entirely different area of the field becoming involved.  A foul which starts outside the penalty area, for example, might continue into and finally end inside the offending player’s penalty area.  Or a foul might start inside the field but, due to momentum, end off the field.  In these cases, the decision about where the foul occurred also affects what the correct restart must be.

            In general, the referee should determine the location of the foul based on what gives the greater benefit to the player who was fouled.  FIFA has specifically endorsed this principle in one of its “Questions and Answers on the Laws of the Game “ (12.31) which states that a penalty kick is the correct restart if a player begins holding an opponent outside the player’s penalty area and continues this action inside his penalty area.